Joy in the Journey

For to us a child is born, To us a son is given, And the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace There will be no end. Isaiah 9: 6-7 Isn’t that verse amazing? Wonderful counselor, Mighty God. Michael W. Smith sings a song that uses this verse and he adds “Lord of life, Lord of all.” Lord of all, not the Lord of morning but I’ll handle the afternoons. He is not Lord of my wallet but not my reading material. He is the Lord of all, King of kings. As Christians we sing Scripture all year long. We sing it in church and many of us sing it at home, in the car and anywhere else we happen to go. During the Christmas season we hear hallelujah, gloria, Emmanuel and Jesus sung in places we otherwise never hear the name of God. It’s Christmas so Christ and his buddies get to hang out in places from which they are normally banned. A couple of years ago a woman w

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:8-12 ( note: This was written in 2005. Faith and Isabelle are now five years old and sometimes have to be convinced that a jacket is necessary. This week the temperatures in sunny Florida have dipped into the 20’s. Brrr….. it’s cold down here!) This morning I was singing along with one of my favorite Christmas songs, “Do You Hear What I Hear.” As I sang the words “a child shivers in the cold” I was shivering too. It is important to mention that it was 52 degrees at the time, not exactly freezing. While my formerly Yankee blood has become quite nicely accustomed to the kinder weath

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. Isaiah 9:6-7 On Sunday I visited a different church than the one we attend, to see my granddaughters in their Christmas play. First let me say, they were the cutest three up there! Okay, really, the whole group was adorable, including the one-in-every-crowd, who waved to the audience the entire time. Not my main point! The pastor spoke on Isaiah 9:6, which is one of my favorite verses. It is so strong. A child is born who will be called, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” A child who will be mighty and powerful but who will first be stalked and later persecuted. Even in Isaiah’s times those words were strong but as we sit today, knowing the whole story of this “child” it is even more incredible. At one point during his message the pastor asked, “

Finally brothers what is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 They say reading is fundamental and I believe it. Reading is pretty much like breathing to me. I read everything. Certainly there are things I prefer to read but honestly whatever written word is in front of me is going to be read. Have you seen those personalized license plates? They are supposed to be making the driver’s statement I guess. Some are easy to understand but others are indiscernible. I get 2QT4U but what does I2O7GP mean? You might suggest that I just stop reading them but I’m telling you, I cannot. It’s an automatic reaction. I see letters and I read. I’m not joking, it doesn’t end with license plates. I read everything, hats, t-shirts, bumper stickers, if it has print I’ll read it. That, has become a rather disconcerting and unfortunate obsession, given our curr

“Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:49 Do you ever long for home? Maybe when you’re at work, or out running errands, you just stop and think, “I wish I could be home.” I know I do. Some days I just want to be at home. Some days I want to go home, as in to heaven. That is not to say that I am depressed or suicidal. I just want to be with my Dad. I want to go where things make better sense. I want to truly see the face of my Father and of my brother, Jesus. Sometimes when I hear of a person dying I envy them a bit. Their journey is over and they are right where I want to be, home. In our class we have a student who says some pretty kooky things. Every now and then he’ll tell me, “Boysen, I’m going to take you to heaven and then I’m going to bring you back.” I always reply, “Little man, once I get to heaven I am not coming back!” Can you imagine it? You’ve had heaven, lived there, loved and been loved there, walked the streets, met the

Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph. Luke 3:23 We live in the time after the story played out. We know who Jesus is. We know his parentage but the people who lived in his time did not. “He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph.” Hm…. Jesus knew who his real father was (Luke 2:49) but the people around him saw him as Mary and Joseph’s son. I grew up in an environment where a lot of things are kept secret. It’s all for someone’s good of course, but it results in lies and those types of things often end badly. More than once I heard stories of a child being told that his/her grandparents were the parents because an older sister had given birth at too young an age. No joke, this was not a one-time story in my life. Did you ever have that moment when you wished someone would tell you that you were adopted? I have. Of course for me it was a pie in the sky wish. My two oldest sisters are women who followed

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. He is risen. See the place where they laid him.” After the Lord Jesus spoke to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Mark 16:6; 19 When I read I want a happy ending. I’m all for mystery, tension, and intrigue as the story builds but in the end I want everyone, or at least all the good guys, to have a positive conclusion. A lot of boy meets girl stories follow the same pattern, boy meets girl, boy loses girl through some flaw in one of them or crazy mix-up and then, boy regains girl and they live happily ever after. Okay fine, except for the part where boy loses girl for some contrived reason, or in a mystery where an innocent person is being punished for a crime they didn’t commit while the criminal walks free. Those are the parts I don’t like. In reading the Gospel I find the same anxious, oh no not this part, feel when I get to the section in all four where i

“Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear. Luke 1:42b At this time of year, as we sing and read about the birth of Jesus, we also hear more about Mary. I was raised in a Roman Catholic home, so I heard a lot about Mary year round. For most people though, Mary comes into her own during Advent, those weeks leading up to Christmas, when we also focus on baby Jesus much more than the Jesus of the Cross. Like many people I have given a lot of thought to how Mary might have felt, pregnant, unmarried and very young. The words overwhelmed, terrified and humiliated come most quickly to mind and I’m sure they are fairly accurate. Still, there could very well be another side to the story. Regardless of the questionable circumstances, Mary was pregnant with the Son of God . So excitement is a word you might add to the list. Again, regardless of the circumstances Mary was pregnant. If you’ve never been pregnant that may not mean anything to you but having been pregnant an